Flawlessly Broken: (Broken Series Book 2) (11 page)

The woman looked mildly amused. “Do you now? Well, we’ll have to see about that.” She passed me a clipboard, sparing Talia barely a glance and thoroughly pissing me off. I had just opened my mouth to tell her what I thought of her attitude when someone gasped behind me. She and I both turned just in time to see Talia’s crumpled form sliding from her chair and onto the floor.

ONCE TALIA HAD
been dramatically carted to the back on a stretcher, leaving me in the waiting room for what felt like eons, they did the necessary tests and called me back to be with her.

The orderly who had come to fetch me left with a friendly smile, pulling the drab, greenish curtain closed behind him.

Talia rested on the narrow bed, a bit more color in her cheeks and an IV in her arm. She patted the spot beside her and I carefully took a seat.

“What did the doctors say? Why do you keep passing out? Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone?”

She reached over and squeezed my hand. “No word yet on why I collapsed at the apartment, though more than one nurse mentioned a concussion, especially when they thought I was unconscious and couldn’t hear them. Technically, only the doctor is supposed to give diagnosis.”

I narrowed my gaze at her. “What do you mean when they
thought
you were unconscious?”

“I may have exaggerated that second episode a tad,” she said with a timid look.

“You mean you faked the collapse in the waiting room?” I asked her, incredulous.

She shrugged. “It seemed like the best option. The nurse was in no hurry to help and—if that bulging vein in your forehead was any indication—you were about to get yourself into trouble. Plus, my freaking head was killing me, and I didn’t feel like sitting out there all night.”

“I was out there scared shitless that you had brain damage or something, thinking that if I’d only called an ambulance like I wanted to, you might have been okay.” I was struggling my way through equal parts anger and amusement, but she still needed to understand what her little stunt did to me. “If you’re going to do some crazy shit like that, how about giving me a heads-up first next time?”

She looked properly chastised and I was about to let her off the hook when my phone chirped in my pocket. Standing, I took it out and read the text. Brant checking in since I hadn’t been around all weekend.

Talia stared wearily at the phone for a moment. “You didn’t call anyone, did you?”

“No, not a soul.” I shook the phone. “It’s just Brant making sure I’m out having fun this weekend, per Clay’s instructions.”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t mention this to him. He might tell Clay.”

So the sneak wanted a co-conspirator... Hmm... I could have fun with that. I pasted on my best indignant look and asked, “So, you want me to lie to my two best friends?” I dramatically looked down at my phone and frowned, pretending to mull it over as I paced the floor beside her bed. “I don’t know if I can do that. I mean, maybe I could have omitted what happened in the shower earlier but this is the second time in one day that I’ve had to scoop you off the floor and this time you didn’t even have the decency to be wet and naked.” I smirked at her and spun, pacing away and raising an arm to point at the ceiling, courtroom drama style. “You made a bid for the Best Actress Oscar with that fainting spell and left me to worry that you’d kicked the damn bucket... and now you have the nerve to ask for my silence?”

The sound of her soft laughter was music to my ears, the real reason for my little tirade.

If she wanted my silence, my lips were sealed.

AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED
with a mild concussion—gee, imagine that—and advised to take it easy for the next couple of days, the hospital released her into my care. On the way out, one of the nurses reminded me that I was to wake her every couple of hours to check for a decline in her condition, just to be safe.

Given that the alternative to my caring for her was calling her parents or dragging Ali home, Talia was perfectly content to have me stay and take care of her.

I was rather content with it myself, disturbingly so. Luckily, all it took was one fleeting memory of Ivey to remind me to keep my distance, at least emotionally. I wouldn’t let my fondness for Talia grow into anything beyond friendship.

I couldn’t.

But there was no harm in helping a friend. Hell, it was a fundamental part of the friendship pact, wasn’t it?

Clay was just helping a friend when he took Ali to that Gala and look where they ended up. Engaged.

No, no, no. That was them, that wasn’t me. Maybe it had been once, but not ever again. Lesson learned.

WHEN I SLID
the Chevelle into an open spot near the front of her building, Talia was once again curled up under my jacket, dozing peacefully. Her long blond strands fell in a tangle across her face casting a web of shadows from the streetlight. I reached over and brushed a few of them away, taking a moment to run my fingers through them and marveling at their softness. They were like strands of golden silk.

“Hmm... that’s nice,” she muttered, startling me. “I used to lay in my mom’s lap for hours while she played with my hair. It always made me sleepy.” Her voice was slow and even, sounding like one long exhalation.

She was so tired she didn’t even argue when I lifted her from the car to take her inside. The doctor said she was okay to get around on her own, but admitted that there was a chance she’d be unsteady on her feet. I didn’t plan to take any chances. Aside from the fact that Clay and Ali would kill me if I let anything happen to her, I also couldn’t get the image of her sinking to the floor out of my head—the first time, not the Oscar-worthy performance.

I carried her past Stony, who merely lifted a hand and didn’t ask about her ankle, and kept her tight in my arms until I gently set her on the couch in her apartment and pulled the blanket down over her. “You get some rest,” I told her, tucking the blanket around her so she wouldn’t get chilled. “I’ll wake you in two or three hours like the nurse said.”

She looked up at me sleepily. “Where will you be? Surely you’re not going to stay up all night.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll kick back on the love seat and set an alarm on my phone, just in case I doze off.”

“You’re too tall to lie down on that thing. You’ll be all scrunched up and you slept sitting up last night.” Her voice was apologetic. “It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. Do you want the couch? Or you can sleep in Ali’s old room.”

I smiled down at her and made a shushing sound. “It’s fine. You stay where you are. I’m not sleeping in another room. You might need something and I don’t trust you not to try and get it yourself. If I’m right here with you, you won’t be able to sneak by me, you little con artist.” I winked and gave her hand a quick pat, staunchly ignoring the nearly overwhelming impulse to lean down and kiss her pale pink lips.

Her eyes closed and she chuckled softly at my comment but said nothing more. After a moment, her even breathing told me that she’d fallen asleep.

I made sure the door was locked, gathered a bottle of water and some ibuprofen for when I awakened her, and settled on the loveseat with my body angled so that I had a direct view of the couch.

For a while I just watched her sleep, my mind turning over everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. We’d known each other for a while, but not like this.

I hadn’t spoken about Ivey in ages.

Sure, the whole fucked-up ordeal was never far from my mind, never more than a blink away from my awareness, but remembering and verbally rehashing were two entirely separate things. Talking about it seemed to wake it up, make it more tangible.

I considered everything I’d learned about Talia since my arrival the night before. How I went from idly noting that she seemed sweet and beautiful to the deep respect and fondness that washed over me as she stirred beneath the blanket, prompting me to jump up and tuck it tighter around her.

I’d suffered in my lifetime—who hasn’t—but what she’d gone through... that was more than I could fathom. I hated that desolate look she tried to hide when she spoke of her child. Hated that there wasn’t a single damn thing I could do to help. It reminded me of Clay after his mother was killed in a car crash. I’d been no help to him, either. Not really. In the end, I decided that being his friend, no matter how bad things got, was all I could do.

I took a seat on the coffee table, my knees nearly touching the sofa where she slept as I watched over her. Maybe I could be the same for her. It had been years since her loss but she still wore it like armor, blocking people out and weighing her down at the same time. Her barrier. Her prison.

I recognized it on her because I wore a set of my own.

I couldn’t expect her to just give it up, but a big part of me wanted to at least help her carry it for a while.

Talia

MY HEAD STILL
hurt when I woke the next morning, but it was vastly improved from the night before. I lay there with my eyes squeezed tight against the sun-filled living room and listened to Spencer’s soft breathing coming from nearby.

At least I’d remembered he was here this morning. If only I’d had the same experience yesterday, I might not have gotten caught off guard.

I could feel my cheeks heating at the memory.

Stupid.

I threw an arm across my face to shield my eyes from the light as I laid there and contemplated getting up, with no real intention of moving.

Spencer had been amazing last night. Not in the panty-melting way I’d often fantasized about, of course. Last night had been something far different. He’d awakened me every couple of hours, asking me a few questions to gauge my clarity and then offering me something to drink and—at the appropriate intervals—something for pain.

Each time, I would resume my spot on the couch and he sat across from me on the coffee table, either stroking my hand or my hair, talking quietly until I dozed off again.

I lay there smiling at his thoughtfulness for a moment before realizing just how close the sound of his breathing seemed.

I lifted my forearm from my eyes and glanced around, squinting until I spotted him a second later, my eyes widening and letting in a painful amount of light.